Niles Take a Trip... and Then a Tumble
by Valma
Summary: A young Niles takes a trip to Vegas while in college.
1. Default Chapter

Niles Takes a Trip... And Then a Tumble  
  
Author Note: In the story Niles is attending a local college  
in Seattle before going off to Yale.  
I figure he is doing this to attain a scholarship so  
he can cover his expenses. I really don't  
know if there is such a college in Seattle, but let's  
just call it *artistic license. Also please  
be forewarned - this is an *adult* story. There are  
some swear words, sexual references and  
*steamy* scenes and some violence in upcoming chapters.  
  
Don't read any further if any of those things will  
offend you, or you are at a too tender of age.  
For those who are old enough and aren't  
bothered by such things - Enjoy!  
Part One - How the "Odd-esy" All Began  
From Season 1, Episode 17 (Mid-Winter's Night's Dream) -  
Martin: Oh, relax! It's just one of Niles' little crushes.  
Frasier: Oh, I suppose you're right. Niles is harmless enough.  
And from Season 2, Episode 13 (Retirement is Murder) -  
Niles: You know, I actually caught Brisbane's act on a trip to Las  
Vegas during college. Those apes were amazing! One  
minute, they'd be staging a living tableaux of George  
Washington crossing the Delaware, the next they'd be  
shooting suction cup arrows at Brisbane's lovely  
assistant's derriere. (Sighs)  
  
Now that everything is set, let's turn back the clock ...  
As he drove down Interstate 15, going well within the posted speed limit, Niles let his mind wander a bit. In a couple of hours he would be in the very bastion of American lust and glitz. Some place very untypical for someone as usually as reserved as him. Yes, his intended target happened to be none other than that shiny paragon of greed and hope, Las Vegas. Vegas! Even the sound of the word echoed in his head with disbelief! But here he was - on his way, all the same! It wasn't at all like the Niles Crane that everyone else saw and thought they knew so well!  
  
"But that is just the point!" Niles emphatically stated in his mind.  
"Everyone assumes that I would never visit a place like that! They'll shake their heads in wonder at the very fact that I chose such a place to spend my vacation. I couldn't have picked a more perfect place that has a reputation for lack of "culture" and sophistication! When I let it be known to my classmates at college that I visited Las Vegas, their mouths will collectively drop open so wide I'll have room enough to fit the entire cast of West Side Story into them!"  
It was a particularly warm day, so Niles had all the windows down on his father's 1979 Chevy. The hot Nevada noonday sun beat relentlessly down on the red vinyl interior of his father's treasured vehicle. Niles felt surge of contentment, as he let the arid wind buffet his blond hair about. He glanced in the rear view mirror to check the mental image he had of himself.  
"Yes," he thought. "I do look kind of cool, for once in my life! I'm glad  
I picked up these sunglasses before I left Seattle. If only the girls in my social behaviour class could see me now! Maybe they would even take a chance and go out on a date with me. Well, maybe not - one step at a time. Still, I am glad that I talked Mom and Dad into letting me do this."  
At first, both his parents had been reluctant to let him go on a trip as long as the one to Las Vegas.  
"You only have a week, Niles, dear," cautioned his doting mother Hester.  
"It will take two or three days just to get there. That's such a long way! You  
are just barely 20 years old, dear!"  
"And you aren't the world's most confident driver, Niles," added his father  
Martin.  
Niles started to open his mouth to protest, ready to marshal his arguments  
about his spotless driving record, but his father cut him off.  
"I know, I know, you haven't had so much as a parking ticket, but I am  
talking about driving a long way on some very unfamiliar roads!"  
"Why Las Vegas?" queried his mother. "Why not San Francisco or Vancouver? They have some nice museums and theatre, that I know you would like!"  
"You don't understand!" Niles sulked. He listened to himself and decided he  
sounded like he was whining just a bit too much. If he appeared too childish his mother would be justified in pointing out that he wasn't really mature enough to handle this. A different tactic had to be applied if he was going to successfully sway his mother to his side. Taking her hand, Niles  
stepped into the kitchen with her, just out of earshot of his father.  
"Mother," he said quietly. "I want to go to prove something. I want to go to show those laughing hyenas I call classmates that I can be spontaneous and surprising. I have planned this all out very meticulously! I'll be careful!! I have thoroughly researched the quickest route to get there and taken notes on various motels that are both respectable and affordable. If you are worried about me losing all my savings to gambling, don't be. I've saved a bit of my own money just for this trip and have budgeted a specific amount for entertainment. I won't even bring my chequebook and I don't own a credit card. I'll just have the cash and traveler's cheques that I have with me. Mother, I need this. I am not all books and opera. Sometimes I just want to have fun! Please!!"  
His large eyes pleaded with her to comprehend his dilemma.  
His mom laughed gently and smiled. "For the first time I actually see part of your father in you. You really can be quite a conundrum, can't you?  
I understand dear, I just worry about you so, that's all. Now stay in here while I see if I can get your father to agree to let you take his car."  
Niles glued his ear to the kitchen door, listening with eager anticipation while Hestor started to work her oratorical magic on Martin, hoping she would pull out all the stops to get his Dad to overlook his definite lack of roadway experience.  
He peeked out from behind the wooden barrier and watched closely as Hestor took Martin quietly aside and slowly convinced him that their younger son desperately needed a break from his studies.  
  
"If you don't allow Niles to take the car, no matter how nervous you are Martin about him driving such a large chariot," she pointed out with utter calmness. "This holiday will just never take place and you know it. We both know that he could never afford to fly to Vegas, not with money being as tight as it is right now what with Frasier being at Harvard. Niles works so hard. You know he deserves a small break."  
  
Niles wasn't sure, but he thought he overheard Hestor whisper to  
her husband that it could be considered a break for them as well. He strained even further up against the swinging door.  
  
"Come on, mother," he prayed. "He's almost ready to give in!"  
"Martin," she said as cooed in his ear and gave it a nibble. "If Niles is gone, we will have this whole big house to ourselves for a full week."  
"What will we do?" was his father's response, while his eyes glittered and  
a slight smirk traced across his countenance.  
"Then it is a 'yes', I take it!" Niles squeaked, as he fell enthusiastically through the kitchen doorway and did an awkward little victory dance, after his father nodded yes and his parents headed for their bedroom.  
The celebration was short-lived though, when Martin returned a minute  
later with the keys and the owners manual.  
"Here," he said with a tinge of regret in his voice. "Put that super-I.Q. to  
work and digest this before you go traipsing off to the "Desert Kingdom"!  
And for God sakes Niles, practice shifting gears BEFORE you go so you don't rip out the transmission in the middle of the Land of the Hustlers! "  
"Right Dad!" he assured his father. "I'll take good care of the family  
heirloom - you won't regret putting your trust in me! I promise! Which  
pedal is the clutch again..."  
And after the inevitable eye-rolling from his father, which Niles dutifully endured, he excitedly packed his bag, carefully making sure that all the garments were in their most wrinkle-free position. Niles wanted to be fully prepared for this impulsive moment.  
  
As Niles carefully checked the rearview mirror for traffic, he remembered what had motivated him to set out on this journey. He could still hear the stinging comments of his classmates ringing in his ears, as he approached the study hall table a few weeks ago...  
"What do you suppose Crane will be doing for the break? Making love to a  
philosophy textbook?"  
"It might be rather difficult though - getting that large object up his  
tight ass!!"  
With that Niles turned his usual crimson hue, hugged his armful of books and papers a little tighter and veered off in the opposite direction. The echoes of laughter and snickers that followed his retreat pushed him down the corridor even faster.  
They would never accept him as part of their gang. He would always be an outsider! Sure, once in a while some students who were desperate to push their marks up, came to him for tutoring, but that was as friendly as it got.  
  
When the exam was over, those same people would turn their backs  
whenever he would sit down to eat his lunch at the same table as them. "Nerdy Niles" was nothing more than a target for the ritualistic ribbing they called "good fun". No one seemed remotely sympathetic as they unmercifully buried him in an avalanche of daily verbal abuse. His reputation as a hoity-toity preceded him, justifying in their minds the insults and snide comments. Niles just withdrew even more, building up a defensive wall, so that their rejection didn't hurt as much.  
"I really don't want to be part of their immature highjinks. Really, they  
are so crude!!" he would say as he sniffed the air with contempt. But then,  
as he sat alone in the stacks of the immense college library, he wished that he had a tribe to hang out with, as the others would have put it. Some comrades to talk to. Something or someone to make the lonely hours pass more quickly...  
"Frasier and I used to do everything together," he remembered. "back in  
junior high. But that was a long time ago now - a lot of water has passed  
under the "Pont Neuf" as the French would say. Frasier is studying at  
Harvard and I am here to face this on my own. I miss his companionship. I even miss his pompous, know-it-all attitude! I'm headed to Yale myself, in another year... a really quality school!!" he defiantly thought. "I bet none of these ingrates will be going to Yale!! When I get done these credits and gain that scholarship, they can eat my dust!! I won't look back to this dump!!! No siree!!! I'll be outta here! That's all she wrote!!"  
With his festering anger spent, he would pause and then let out a small sigh, close his books and trudge off to spend another night alone reading, or listening to the classical recordings in his bedroom, or worse still, watching the occasional documentary T.V. programme with his parents.  
"Oh God! My life really is pathetic!" he would silently moan to himself in the  
darkened recesses of his parent's living room, as the television bathed the  
mossy green plaid furniture with a ghostly light. "When I get my own home it will be rich in colour and textures, filled with art and sculpture! I am going to make sure that I am well enough off to live in a beautiful building like... like the Montana of Euclid Ave. But, I suppose to be fair, Mom and Dad do direct a lot of their hard earned dollars to my education. They can't afford to live in a palace like the Montana and pay for Frasier and my education, even with the scholarships. I guess talking like this makes me sound not only uppity, but also ungrateful for all they have done! Great! Now I can feel guilty about that too!!"  
It was during one of those nocturnal self-examination exercises that he  
decided on the perfect destination to raise himself out of this numbing rut.  
He had heard some of the other students discussing their vacation plans and one blonde co-ed with particularly perky breasts, Niles noted, had mentioned that she and her cousins were going to "Vegas for a week of gambling and debauchery." Outwardly Niles' face took on the look of disdain at the time, but inside he felt a twinge of envy.  
Vegas...  
The girl's words reverberated in his mind, until he could think of nothing else.  
"That's where I'll go, then. Maybe one of them will see me there and my  
reputation for being such a "stick-in-the-mud" will dissolve away and my social life will take a turn for the better! Yes, that is the solution! I won't back out of this! I have to do this! All right! This is just what I need!"  
With those emphatic inspirations still sounding in his ears, he headed off on his adventure...  
  
And now with overnight stays in Boise and Salt Lake City that left him  
with little more than a six-hour drive to complete his journey.  
  
Niles tried hard to ignore the cleanliness of the budget accommodations that he was forced to accept, telling himself that the dust and the hard  
mattresses would be the crosses he would have to bear in order to get to his "social salvation" in Vegas. As he straightened his shirt cuffs, while  
putting on his jacket early that morning before heading out of the Hide-Away Highway Motel, Niles made a mental note of the irony of his situation.  
"I'm leaving one of the most officially moral cities  
in the region," he pondered, "and heading off to a city which is  
affectionately known as "Sin City". But, redemption can be found  
in the most unlikely of places occasionally. And what I am in search for  
can't be found in a book or an aria. I want to feel like... like I belong...  
I want my classmates, or anyone for that matter, other than my own flesh and blood, to like me and want to spend time with me. To accomplish this I have to gain some experience in their environment, try to fit in, show them that I can be a "with it" guy and be part of their world. This trip to Las Vegas could be the key that could unlock those doors that have been shut to me all my life.... and... I could actually end up having some fun!"  
This would be so much more than just a vacation for rest and relaxation.  
Las Vegas would be his "Holy Land" where he hoped to find the silver challis of acceptance from the others.  
Niles gripped the steering wheel with determination as he approached the  
sign that indicated that he was now entering the state of Nevada. It wouldn't be too long now before he reached his destination.  
  
Viva Las Vegas, indeed!  
A lot was riding on this one trip...  
End of Part 1  
To be continued... 


	2. Chapter 2

Niles Takes a Trip... and Then a Tumble  
Part 2  
  
Viva Las Vegas - Niles Style!  
  
Niles glanced left and right and then left again at the traffic light.  
Some impatient driver beeped his horn and shouted a crude encouragement.  
  
"Hey buddy - Get your ASS moving!!!"  
  
Niles gave his head a little shake of wonderment, started out of his stupor and put the car into gear. As he glided through the intersection, Niles felt like he was in a dream. Not quite a nightmare, but too garish and vulgar to be considered an idyllic setting. Even in the late afternoon sun, the neon lights and the contrived architecture assaulted his sensibilities with an overpowering sense of "in-your-face" attitude. It had a frenzied, drug-induced quality about it, that he wasn't used to experiencing.  
  
The city seemed alive and yet dead at the same time. He passed the 65 foot neon cow-poke that had greeted visitors to Las Vegas since the early fifties. It all seemed surreal. There were legendary casinos with names like "The Flamingo", "The Sands" and "The Stardust" passing through his field of vision like an assembly line of palaces of avarice and vice. He had heard of these places all his life, but never imagined himself as part of that mental picture.  
  
"I had better find a place to stay and park the car," he reasoned quickly.  
"Then I can get my bearings and explore a bit more on foot. The less I drive Dad's car, the less chance there is of a tragedy happening to his precious vehicle."  
  
Niles finally located a smaller motel on outskirts of "The Strip" that had  
no casino attached to it and was a bit past its prime, but the weekly rates  
were much more within his tight budget than the more expensive ones  
downtown.  
  
His room was on the second story and there was a place to park  
the car right out in front of his balcony. In the distance he could barely  
make out the mountains and the proprietor assured him that "all the  
entertainment delights were within a short walking distance of his room".  
  
It seemed quiet and relatively clean, so he settled in. After dusting  
off the dresser and carefully hanging up his clothes, he unpacked the  
remainder of his personal items in the bathroom.  
  
"Well, I suppose I could always pick up some cleaning supplies and just make sure everything is really sanitary," he thought. "It wouldn't take long and I will be staying here for about four days....What's that?... a ... bug of  
some sort?"  
  
He poked tentatively at the crumpled shape in the corner of the  
tub with a coat hanger and decided it wasn't alive now, even if it had been  
at one time. Still, to be on the safe side he removed it with a wad of  
tissue and promptly washed out the tub thoroughly.  
  
"I know I am acting silly and mother would say I am obsessing," he  
sighed, "but I just can't stand the thought of sharing this room with any  
winged creatures! And I might as well be comfortable if I am staying here!  
Well, enough of that! I should really get out and see what this fabled town  
has to offer!"  
  
Niles had told himself that he shouldn't pre-judge the offerings of Vegas,  
that he was here to do the non-typical things, that he wanted to absorb the  
sleazy milieu, that this was a new type of education for him! Niles had read plenty about what life was like on the seedy side of things, but walking the streets wasn't the same as unfolding the newspaper or turning the pages of "A Street Car Named Desire". There was a distinct edge of danger to all this ravenous excess. He felt a bit lost in the neon and the hustle, and his bravado began to wear a bit thin, after several hours of wandering the main drag.  
  
Niles eyed most of the examples of humanity he observed on "The Strip"  
with a distinct air of suspicion. Many who walked by him covered their  
eyes with dark glasses, even though the sun had set at least an hour ago.  
One look into the faces of those who didn't told him why. Haggard, blank stares showed on the features of the lost souls who seemed to be in almost a *zombie* like state of mind.  
  
"Hey, buddy!" cried out one particularly foul-smelling man, "Can you spare a buck? All I need is a dollar and I know my luck will turn around!"  
  
The vagrant reached out and grasped Niles by the jacket sleeve and gripped the material as if it was a lifeline. His bony fingers worked the cloth of Niles' jacket with an agitated urgency.  
  
Niles recoiled in fear and disgust.  
  
"Please," he pleaded, "I sorry for you, b..b..ut leave me alone!"  
  
Still this "refugee from reality" hung on desperately.  
  
"Bub," his voice took on a decidedly flinty sound. "I'm not asking for  
much... just a buck ... or two. You can spring for it!"  
  
Niles twisted his arm in a jerking motion and suddenly wrestled free of the  
fellow's vice-grip.  
  
"I... I ...I'm sorry!" he said in a rush of words, his anxiety level rising  
with each passing second. "I'm sorry, I can't help you!"  
  
And with that, Niles pushed quickly past him and disappeared into the  
burgeoning crowd. The last Niles heard of him, was his whiny plea for funds being tried on some fresh game a bit further up the street.  
  
Niles put his head down, fearing that if he made anymore eye contact, a  
repeat of what had just happened would occur. Feeling very vulnerable, as he plunged along the sidewalk, a distinct feeling of terror began to rise in his throat.  
  
"I really don't know what I am doing here!" he panted. "I feel like a  
helpless castaway, set adrift in a sea of lust and greed! And to think I  
have four nights to spend on my own here! God, how I wish Frasier was  
here with me! He's so much more confident and worldly than I am! I've  
overstepped my limit! I've gone too far out on a limb! I feel miserable  
and alone! What was I thinking! I can't pull this off!!"  
  
Niles started to breathe with a certain disparate quality. He began  
to feel a bit dizzy. Things were closing in on him... starting to...spin.  
Fearing that he was about to faint, he stopped in the street and  
sat down on a welcoming bench. He closed his eyes and tried to regain his  
composure.  
  
"Breathe.... slowly and deeply.... that's it," he chanted to himself. "Panicking won't help anything. You can't leave now! It would look terrible and everyone would know that you had failed on your mission of fun. How could you explain yourself? You were going to show others that you  
could handle a little adventure. If you scurry off home now, everyone will guess that you chickened out. It would be written all over your guilt-ridden  
face. That would never do! That's it... keep breathing.... better... now you're  
more in control.... think fun, think good times, think of what others would do."  
  
He opened his eye and there before him was the answer!  
A marquee blazed before him like a "burning bush".  
  
"The Desert Inn Presents Brisbane's Amazing Apes!"  
  
"That's it!" Niles read on further.  
  
"See The History of Our Country Come To Life!"  
  
Sounded even slightly educational...  
  
"From the Mayflower to the "Moon Walk", a living tribute to all the great  
American moments!"  
  
Niles gulped a breath of night air with determination and stood up.  
He pumped his arms, as if to help propel himself forward.  
  
"That's it!!! I'm gonna do it!!" he said with renewed bravado.  
  
"After all, when in Rome..."  
  
And with that he strode up to the casino doors and towards the fate that  
awaited him beyond its doors....  
  
End of Part 2  
To be continued... 


	3. Chapter 3

Niles Takes a Trip... and Then a Tumble  
  
Part 3: Heaven and Hell and the Path in Between  
  
Niles took his seat near the front of the apron of the stage. He ordered a  
glass of white wine.  
  
"They actually have a half-decent Chardonnay on the wine  
list," he noted and sat back in the darkening theatre, as the other interested patrons began to filter in.  
  
Maybe it was the wine, maybe it was the darkness of the theatre, or perhaps it was that there was a certain "risqué feel" about being alone  
in a Vegas floor show for the meek lad, but suddenly Niles had a rush of  
adrenline excitement surge through his body. He giggled to himself a bit, after the waitress brought him his wine.  
  
"NowI really feel like a sophisticated adult." he mused.  
  
Niles began to relax and feel his confidence return.  
  
He glanced about, peering through the dimness at the jaded faces of the  
audience. There were a scattering of those laughing in that exaggerated manner that inebriation always brings to the forefront. There were the "down-for-the-count" drunks that didn't even bother to pretend to be cogent of what was happening around them. And of course, there were the just plain curious, sitting in eager anticipation, waiting to see what this man  
Brisbane could do with his *well trained* beasts.  
  
The multi-coloured spotlights began to flit around the stage in a frenzied  
motion. The sonorous tunes of the band blared out over the crowd. With much pretentious pomp and pageantry the show began.  
  
Brisbane, the star of the production  
appeared first, sparkling from head to toe in his sequined outfit, flanked on either side by two of his most promising primate proteges. It was mildly amusing in a "kitsch-y" kind of way. As promised on the marquee, the history lesson began with the landing of the Mayflower at Plymouth Rock.  
  
Niles chuckled softly as more apes descended onto the stage dressed in pilgrim garb.  
  
"There's something so horribly vulgar about it," Niles thought "and yet,  
like a man slipping on a banana peel, it does hold a certain plebeian delight. This could be quite interesting! A real study in human and animal  
behaviour! Just the thing for a *budding* young psychiatrist!"  
  
But all thoughts of studies and psychiatry dissipated the very moment that Niles Crane set eyes on .... her.  
  
Niles Crane was thunderstruck!! His mouth fell open and his eyes opened  
wider, as if to drink in the sight he saw all the better.  
  
"She's beautiful!!!" he murmured. "No...no, beautiful alone doesn't do her  
justice! She is stunningly beautiful!!"  
  
There on the stage was a tall, statuesque, young woman in her early twenties. She wore her long auburn hair tied loosely back, so that the  
lumbering chimps didn't pull at it. She moved with a stylized grace about  
the stage, helping Brisbane, making sure that the animals didn't revert to their natural state in the middle of the performance. There was nothing gaudy about her, even though she was in the midst of all this hype and hypocrisy.  
  
To Niles, it seemed like all the others on the platform melted into the  
garish background. She stood alone, in his mind. She was a gemstone embedded in a muddy mass of depravity. Niles' eyes followed her as she glided across the stage, bending over now and again to corner an errant animal.  
  
He lost all interest in the tableau that was being presented "for the delight of Desert Inn patrons". Decades of significant moments in American history  
whizzed by, one after another, as he sat in an almost catatonic-like state,  
barely able to breath, just fixated on the transcendent beauty that was  
before him.  
  
It wasn't until the house lights came up that Niles realized that he hadn't  
touched his glass of wine since the first few sips. He rubbed his jaw to relieve the stiffness from remaining ajar for such an extended period of time. Looking about, he wondered if any other the audience members could see the other tell-tale evidence of his sudden passion.  
  
Niles glanced downward and thought it was best that he remain seated for a while yet, even though the object of his desire had long left the stage. His mind wandered a bit, pondering about his "inamorata". What was her real name?  
  
"No one would really be called "Trixie", would they? Where did she come from? How long had she been working in Vegas? What would motivate such a beautiful young woman to take such employment?"  
  
So many questions filled his head.  
  
Niles slipped into an enticing day dream. The theatre was almost  
empty now, as the waitresses flitted about cleaning up tips and dirty glasses from the well-worn tables.  
  
"Is there anything else I can get you sir?"  
  
A bleached blonde, in a *too tight* uniform, broke into his reverie.  
  
"W...w...wh...at?" Niles stuttered.  
  
"Are you all right? Do you need a cab?"  
  
"No, no" Niles mumbled "Is it all right if I just sit here a few minutes and  
finish this wine?"  
  
"Sure." she chirped, as she shuffled off in disinterest.  
  
Niles gulped the remaining portion of his wine in three large swallows. It burned in his throat.  
  
"My God!!" he uttered, "What is happening to me!"  
  
His face went crimson as he tried to comprehend the sheer magnitude of his concupiscence.  
  
"I'm not a sexual neophyte! I have been on a date before... all right,  
maybe not an actual date, but I have read about love in all the great literary classics. I've noticed a few female classmates before. There was that one girl in the library that sat rather close to me, even though there were plenty  
of empty seats all around! She smelled quite lovely, actually. Sure  
nothing became of it... but the point is, I know about attraction. But... I ... have never.... felt like this before! I feel like a train has just  
run over me! My hands are shaking, my knees are weak, my heart is racing. It's overpowering."  
  
"Sir," came a husky voice. "I 'm sorry, but I am going to have to ask you to  
vacate the premises. The theatre is supposed to be cleared, so that the cleaning staff can vacuum. Sir?....sir, did you hear me?"  
  
Niles shook himself out of his stupor, blinked once and found himself  
starring into the face of a burly, yet helpful, gentleman in a dark suit.  
  
Niles slowly nodded his head yes in reply, checked on his errr... *rigid  
condition* and rose carefully from his chair.  
  
With a start, he turned suddenly and asked, "When is the next showing of  
the Brisbane act?"  
  
"No more tonight, sir, but tomorrow there are three shows again at 2, 6 and  
10," came the response.  
  
"Thanks." half-whispered Niles, as he threw a dollar onto the table and  
stumbled towards the exit.  
  
Niles glanced at his watch, pushed hard through the resisting doors and  
tumbled into the neon-bathed street.  
  
"It's late but I had better get something to eat." he reasoned, "That glass  
of wine on an empty stomach has really affected me."  
  
He squinted up at the bright, flashing signs hoping to see something  
resembling a regular restaurant, where he could eat without getting involved in some type of gambling. After a few minutes he spotted a cafe on one of the side streets and headed off in that direction. Although it was a  
fair distance from the main road, it was at least a direct route back to the  
Desert Inn. He didn't want to get lost in a labyrinth of shadowy back alleys at such a late hour.  
  
"I must be crazy!" he thought. "Why am I planning to go to another showing  
of that glorified circus act tomorrow?"  
  
He pulled his suit jacket collar up, as the cold Nevada night air sent a  
chill through his body.  
  
"I'll tell you why!" his alter-ego replied. "You're going because you are  
nuts!!! You're nuts about the most gorgeous, sensuous creature you have ever seen in your life!! I know it is terribly impulsive and I can't really rationalize my behaviour, but I don't care! She... she is ... just so  
exquisite. I can't think of anything else except to just behold her at  
least one more time! She's an angel! Maybe if I am lucky she will notice me... that would be just enough, if she just looked up and saw that I was looking at her too! Maybe..."  
  
But Niles stopped his train of thought. His senses went on high alert  
suddenly and he strained his ears to listen to the footsteps that appeared to be coming rapidly up from behind him. This pathway was much darker than the main avenue and the cafe's flashing sign was still a bit off in the distance. It was late. No other foot traffic was about. Niles' body trembled slightly, partly from nerves and partly from the chill in the air. It sounded like there were at least two sets of feet following him. Their hard boots clicked on the concrete as they gained on him with each passing second. Next he heard low voices.  
  
They matched the harsh sound of the boots - pitiless and tough. Niles quickened his pace, but he had a rising fear that the inevitable was about to happen. He half shut his eyes and started to dash towards the restaurant, but it was too late.  
  
"Hey buddy!" the voice was mocking in tone and cruel. "What's the hurry?"  
  
A rough arm reached out and grabbed Niles' shoulder. He was quickly spun around and found himself facing three large brutes.  
  
"I shouldn't show fear....I should remain calm.... just hand over my money ... give them what they want..." he thought but it was past that point, now. He was paralyzed with terror and couldn't force even a sound out of his bone-dry mouth.  
  
"Hey little guy," the taunting words slapped against Niles like a backhand. "We just wanna be friends!"  
  
"Yeah, friends!" said another voice with a slight slur. "And seein' you are  
our new found friend, then you wouldn't object to lendin' us some cash?"  
  
Niles closed his eyes tighter. He had been the victim of enough bullying to  
know what was coming next. They'd have their fun batting him about a bit,  
take his money and if he didn't antagonize them too much, they would flee  
before anyone could catch them.  
  
"Now you aren't acting very friendly are you?" the menacing strains echoed  
in Niles' ears. "Maybe you should be taught some manners!"  
  
Niles braced his body and soul for the humiliation that was to follow. This was the story of his life. Trouble was, the last time he had suffered a roughing up at the hands of hooligans, he had been much younger, but so  
were his assailants. These toughs were much more malevolent than the high school gangs that used to torment the timid students like the Crane brothers.  
  
This time the pummeling was extremely savage, but mercifully short.  
  
At least it seemed that way to Niles. He figured later he must have lost consciousness fairly soon after the first few blows.  
  
He remembered a punch to the stomach (now he was thankful that he hadn't eaten anything.  
  
"People can asphyxiate on their own vomit," he reasoned.  
  
Their fists felt like hammer blows and immediately his head began to buzz. When the next series of strikes came to his face, he crumpled to the ground and started to cough. He tasted the warmth of his own blood spurting out of his mouth, as he sagged into a heap on the unyielding sidewalk surface. The sticky, thick liquid dribbled slowly down his chin.  
  
Niles knew that he would be slipping into a comforting faint soon enough. His temples were throbbing. He had miscalculated. They weren't just teenage muggers. Their intent seemed to be to totally mutilate him as rapidly as possible, even though he lay unresisting at their feet and they could have helped themselves to his wallet easily. He was their entertainment for the night. His complete capitulation seemed to infuriate them even more, as they worked themselves into a frantic frenzy of fury against his battered body.  
  
He heard his surly tormentors' voices lash around him.  
  
"This fag's a sack of monkeysh.."  
  
"Hey, check his pockets, quick! Maybe *Pointdexter's holdin'. "  
  
"The little dweeb has only twenty bucks!"  
  
"Any cards?"  
  
"Not a one!! Shit!"  
  
"Is that somebody comin'!!"  
  
"What an asshole!"  
  
And with that comment and a final swift lick to his ribs with the firm point  
of a boot, Niles slipped into a haze of pain and was enveloped into an inky  
darkness.  
  
End of Part 3  
to be continued.... 


	4. Chapter 4

Niles Takes a Trip...and Then a Tumble  
  
Part 4 : Amazing Grace, How Sweet Thou Art...  
  
First there was a bright light.  
  
A very bright light.  
  
It seemed like it was boring directly into his brain.  
  
Niles let out a soft moan as he automatically reached up to shield his eyes.  
His hand touched something moist on his forehead.  
  
"A cloth," he reasoned through the haze. "Maybe if I just pull it down over my eyes, that damn light will go away!"  
  
He fumbled about trying to get a grip on the material, but his fingers  
weren't responding to his needs. He felt numb all over, right down to his fingertips, and every joint in his body ached with an intense pain. He soon abandoned his efforts to catch the slippery cloth and just closed his eyes again.  
  
"I'll just lie here and die," he decided. "Mom and Dad will eventually wonder what happened to me. There will be a police investigation. They'll find out that I was beaten to death and robbed in some seedy back street in Vegas and they'll cluck their tongues wondering why I ever was so foolish to go there. They'll warn Frasier never to be so stupid and he will assure them that he wouldn't ever behave that way. At least then my dull, meaningless life will have served a purpose."  
  
With that comforting thought, he finally surrendered to the overwhelming  
agony in his limbs and drifted back into a torpid state of suffering....  
  
"Are you feeling a bit better, now?"  
  
A female voice floated above him like a songbird caught in a breeze.  
  
"Don't say anything, just squeeze my finger once, if you can, for a 'yes',"  
she encouraged.  
  
Niles felt a soft hand slip under his. He made a mild attempt to communicate in this fashion.  
  
"Good! Now don't open your eyes until I adjust the drapes."  
  
With those words his angel of mercy quickly darkened the room to a more  
acceptable level and returned back to his side. He felt the slight pressure of her body indent the cushion on which he lay.  
  
"Now, slowly try opening your eyes," she coaxed. "That's it!"  
  
Niles blinked and focused his eyes. He blinked again. There before him was Brisbane's lovely assistant.  
  
"All right," he thought. "I am either hallucinating, insane or dead! Those  
are my only options!"  
  
She smiled at him. She wasn't dressed in her stage costume and her face was freshly scrubbed of makeup, but there was no doubt, it was her.  
  
"I must be dead!" Niles rationalized. "I wouldn't be able to consider this so  
calmly if I were insane. And she wouldn't be so clear, if I were having a  
hallucination, would she? But maybe she just seems so real because I  
am insane! Oh dear! Now I'm not sure..."  
  
She reached out and patted his cheek reassuringly. Niles flinched slightly  
as her hand contacted his face. His eyes opened wider. His eyebrows arched tensely, as he glanced nervously around the room, searching for more clues that would indicate evidence of a certain level of reality to him.  
  
"If I'm dead, why doesn't everything seem more transcendental?" he  
speculated. "Why does this look like just another cheap hotel room? Is this  
what heaven is really like? Good God! I never thought it would be this  
shabby!"  
  
"Don't look so worried. You're O.K. now. It was a bit touch and go for a  
while, but I think you'll pull through all right. Do you want something  
to drink? Some juice? Or water?" she offered.  
  
Niles gulped the dry air.  
  
"Are you... Trixie... from the Brisbane Show?" he finally said in a barely  
audible tone.  
  
She chuckled quietly. "Well, that is my stage name. My real name is  
Grace... Grace Barton. You must be famished!"  
  
And with that she rose and headed for the kitchenette.  
  
"Grace..." Niles mused to himself. "That name suits you."  
  
"I haven't got a wide selection, but would you like some soup? There's  
chicken noodle or vegetable. Which will it be?"  
  
"Vegetable, please, if that is all right?" Niles politely answered.  
  
"I must not be dead," he thought. "Heaven would at least serve  
Bouillabaisse."  
  
"Of course it's all right," Grace answered. "May I call you Niles?"  
  
Shocked at the sound of his own name coming from her lips, Niles just stared at her as she came back in the living room.  
  
"Is there something wrong?" she said anxiously. "You're not going to be ill,  
are you?"  
  
"H...h...how did you know my name?" he faltered.  
  
"Those thugs who stole your money, left your wallet behind," she explained. "I was coming out of the cafe after getting a late night bite to eat and I saw them. I thought they might be harassing an injured coyote or some other animal that wandered in from the desert. I hate it when somebody picks on a poor defenseless animal, so I just started hollering at them. I must have scared them off - cowards! I didn't realize what they were actually up to, until I got right up to you and then it hit me why they had taken off so suddenly. I just bundled you into the first cab I could flag down and brought you back here, to the Desert Inn. I guess I should have informed the police, but my main concern was getting you to someplace safe to tend to your wounds. What with caring for you, and getting some rest myself, I haven't really had even time to think about telling anyone  
you are here. Is there someone I should contact? I don't think there is much of a chance of catching the muggers. I didn't get any sort of a look at them at all. Do you think you could identify them?"  
  
"No" admitted Niles. "I am here in Vegas on my own, so no one will be looking for me. And I don't think I could identify them, unfortunately. It was pretty dark, and to tell the truth and I was so scared my eyes were shut most of the time anyway! "  
  
"You poor thing!" she sympathized. "It was three against one.  
You were very lucky you weren't hurt worse."  
  
"Yeah," Niles sighed. "I feel really lucky."  
  
He winced and looked up ruefully.  
  
"I'm sorry, I don't mean to sound ungrateful. Thank you for everything you  
have done." He glanced into her eyes. "I...I...I probably would have died without your help! How come you didn't just call an ambulance?"  
  
She returned his look with one of great ardor.  
  
"I...I'm not exactly sure, really. I guess you just looked like someone who needed a little more personal touch than could be found in a Vegas hospital. There was something about you... something that seemed to call for *extra* loving care and attention..." she trailed off, her eyes caressing his reclining form.  
  
There was an electrifying pause in their conversation.  
  
Niles suddenly felt very awkward. He became acutely aware that this was  
the same woman that he had lusted after not too long ago. Those feelings were sublimated in the pain and terror of last night's attack, but they weren't gone - just merely tucked away for a while. But the nuance of her words and the look on her face brought back those sensations with a rush. He felt a surge of carnal cravings engulf his body, much to his immediate chagrin. He averted his eyes from hers and slowly strained to sit up on the couch so the growing stiffness in his groin wasn't quite so obvious. The last thing he wanted her thinking was that he was some kind of invalid sex maniac!  
  
Niles did note that Grace, also had a rather flushed look about her.  
  
"I had better get that soup!" she said quickly and hurried off to plug the kettle in.  
  
"Grace?" Niles called out, trying to put things back on a more even plane. "Where... where is my shirt?"  
  
"Here," she replied coming back around the corner of the doorway. "I had to wash it to get the bloodstains out. And I had to get a closer look at your body."  
  
Niles suddenly felt all the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.  
  
He blushed, covered his chest with the scratchy hotel blanket and  
shifted about uncomfortably.  
  
"I'm sorry, Niles. I didn't mean to embarrass you," she stuttered. "I only  
meant that you had some rather large bruises in you chest area... and  
what with all that blood coming out of your mouth, I wanted to make sure that nothing was broken, or that you hadn't punctured a lung."  
  
"Of course, thanks again," he mumbled. "...umm, you seem to know quite a bit about first aid," he added quickly, hoping to steer the conversation away from anything of an intimate nature. Everything he said seemed to carry a sexual innuendo.  
  
"Well I was studying to be a nurse, but my funds ran dry," she stated. "I  
took the job with Arty Brisbane because it was more money than I could ever make back home."  
  
Niles was gingerly slipping into his shirt as she chatted. He paused.  
  
"Where is home?" he asked, cocking his head slightly to one side.  
  
"Badaxe, Michigan." she said proudly, with a toss of her auburn locks. "And  
you are from Seattle, I understand."  
  
"No secrets to be kept from someone who has gone through your  
wallet, are there?" he opinioned.  
  
"I hope you don't think that I was being too forward," her face turning rubicund. "It's just that living on the road with the show has made me much more bold. You have to grow up fast when you are touring from town to town all the time. I guess you could say I have experienced a lot of life in my 23 years!"  
  
The kettle whistled a shriek and Grace left to make the soup for her  
patient. She shouted back at him from the other room as she spoke.  
  
"I'm going back to college to finish up, just as soon as I save up enough dough. I met up with Arty last year when his show came to Detroit on tour. I was introduced to him after a performance through some friends, and he convinced me to join his troupe for the adventure and the money. I am really quite lucky that I met up with him. In a business filled with users and losers, Arty has been like a father to me. He looks after all of us like a family. He's an o.k. guy really."  
  
Niles felt a pang of envy. Grace had courage, the courage to take a risk  
in life, which he never had. She was only three years older than him and  
yet seemed so much more worldly and self-assured. Maybe she has had  
a real boyfriend too? Maybe several?  
  
"I wonder if she had ever..." He shook his head in self-loathing and chastised himself. "Stop it! Must everything come back to sex!?!?! Concentrate on what she is saying!!"  
  
"I once worked part-time in a vet's office, so helping out with the chimps  
wasn't that far-fetched. I have always had a way with wild things," she said, as she rounded the corner with a cup of steaming soup. "Wild things and wounded creatures..."  
  
He looked up and saw that she was smiling at his clumsy attempt to button his shirt, even though he could barely sit up straight. Was that a smile of attraction, or did she just feel sorry for him with his inept struggle to clothe himself?  
"Here, let me help," she proffered, looking into his cobalt eyes. Niles suddenly felt extremely vulnerable. Was he just another "wounded creature" or was there something more to her intense look? He desperately hoped for the latter and gave himself over to her gentle touch.  
  
She smoothly guided his hands to his side and finished the buttons with a  
flourish. Her touch was warm against his pale flesh. He was positive that he felt her fingers linger longer on his body than they had to, before she spoke.  
  
"There! All ready to eat now, aren't you!"  
  
"I seem to be unable to stop thanking you." Niles said with mild  
abashment.  
  
"Well you are going to have to stop soon because I have to get ready and  
go to work, " she teased. "In another hour, Arty Brisbane's Amazing Apes go on to perform one more sold out show at the Desert Inn and their performance will wait for no man - including Niles Crane!!"  
  
Niles started to laugh but pulled up short when the pain in his head  
overtook him.  
  
"Ooooh! That hurts!" he cried. "Don't make me laugh, Grace, please!"  
  
"Sorry, Niles!" she joked. "Here, maybe I should kiss it to make it better!"  
  
She leaned forward and playfully grazed his forehead with her lips. Niles  
felt her sweet breath on his skin and collapsed back into the cushions. Was this a "come on"? He closed his eyes and decided to take a chance and tell her how attracted he was to her.  
  
"Grace...Grace...I... I, " he couldn't make the words come out.  
  
"Niles," she pulled back slightly as she spoke and looked at him with  
compassion, "Are you all right? I didn't lean into you too hard, did I?"  
  
"No, no not at all!" he gasped. "I...I...I just feel a little dizzy, that's  
all." Niles sighed. What was it about women in general, and this woman in particular, that turned him into such an inept buffoon? Was it his total inexperience with the fairer sex that made him so "tongue-tied"? If he didn't find a way to speak to women someday soon he'd never even go out on a date, let alone find someone to love!!  
  
"You poor boy! I still haven't fed you. When is the last time you ate?" she  
queried.  
  
"Boy!" the word rang in his ears. Not "man" - "boy"! The spell was broken.  
She was acting like a nurse and a caregiver, but not a lover. Niles' head began to ache.  
  
"Yesterday, about noon, I think," Niles said with a disappointed tinge.  
  
"Here's your soup. Do you want some crackers? I can make some tea as well."  
  
She sounded all too matronly as she backed off and slowly stood up.  
  
"All right," he said compliantly. "Tea would be just fine."  
  
Niles forced the hot soup down his throat. It felt good. He didn't realize  
how hungry he actually was until he tasted the food. His hands were  
shaking so violently that he had to use both of them to steady the cup.  
Was it a result of nerves or starvation?  
  
"I'm probably still in shock," he thought, as he greedily finished off the  
steaming broth.  
  
"The tea is on its way." Grace paused a bit before continuing, "Niles, are you feeling a bit stronger?"  
  
He nodded silently and set the empty soup cup down.  
  
"Good, good." she said hastily. Her mood suddenly changed and Niles got the feeling he wouldn't like what was coming next.  
  
"Niles," she said with a definite tone of caution in her voice, "Niles, I have to go to work soon and there is something that I have to show you before I do. I... I have a mirror here and I want you to take a look at yourself."  
  
Niles reached out instinctively, but stopped when he realized what she was  
implying. He shut his eyes. His head began to pound again. It felt like it could split wide open all of a sudden.  
  
"I didn't want you discovering this when you were by yourself. It's much easier if you have someone to talk to when you first see the results of what those thugs did to you last night."  
  
"How bad is it?" he asked with a sickened tone. "I wasn't exactly God's  
gift to women to begin with, you know."  
  
It was a weak attempt at some humour. Grace smiled half-heartedly.  
  
"It's not too bad," she said gently, "And it will heal nicely if you don't  
scratch the sores. It's just that it might be a bit of a shock when you  
  
first see the damage they did."  
  
She handed him the mirror.  
  
"Niles," she cautioned, "Remember, it just happened last night and there still has to be time for the swelling to go down. Please... please, don't be too upset!"  
  
Niles swallowed hard and opened his eyes. He closed them again and sunk back into the pillows.  
  
"I look... like... like Frankenstein's m...mon... ster," he said bitterly.  
  
His mouth was very bruised and his lower lip was about twice its normal  
size. There was a large cut under one of his eyes and an equal sized  
purple and red coloured splotch on the opposite cheek. Niles lifted his  
blond hair off his forehead to reveal a two inch raw sore there as well.  
  
A tear rolled involuntarily out of his eye and down the side of his  
battered face. Grace reached out and brushed it away.  
  
"Please," Niles pouted, as he pushed her hand aside. "P...please, don't t...touch me!"  
  
He turned his face into the pillow. He felt so ugly and repulsive.  
Why would any woman be interested in him... especially now?  
  
"Niles, don't..." Grace whispered. "It's just temporary. We'll apply some  
more ice and in a couple of days, the swelling will go down and you'll be  
your old self. You'll see."  
  
"My old self!" Niles scoffed, more to himself than to Grace, "My old self,  
but with the added attraction of scars! That ought to make me the most popular guy in Seattle, right along side of the troll who lives under the bridge."  
  
"I'm so sorry Niles," Grace said her voice filled with compassion. "Please, please believe me when I say that it will be all right!! I wish I could stay with you longer, but it is almost 1:30 and I'm going to have to go to work soon. Tell you what I'll do - I'll make up an ice bag for your face and I'll give you a couple of sleeping pills to relax you, all right?"  
  
"Uh?" Niles said distractedly as he picked up the mirror again to make sure  
it wasn't a dream. It wasn't. It was more like a nightmare - that monstrosity in the mirror really was him!  
  
"You'll feel much better if you get some rest, I'm sure." Grace anxiously continued, taking the mirror gently out of his hands. "All you need is sleep and some ice to reduce the swelling. Once that happens, you'll be in a more positive frame of mind. It just looks bad because you're tired and  
still feeling sore. It will be much better in a couple of hours, trust me."  
  
"All right, what ever you say..." Niles was almost in a stupor as he closed  
his eyes wearily.  
  
Grace quickly got two sleeping capsules and a cup of hot tea. Niles took them with an air of resigned melancholy and then curled up in a ball, wrapping the blanket around his aching body. Grace filled a plastic bag with ice cubes, covered it in a towel and pressed it gently on the side of his face.  
  
"Niles, lie back and get some rest," she implored. "I'll be back in a couple of  
hours to check on you. You'll feel better. I know you will, all right?"  
  
He didn't reply.  
  
"Niles?" Grace sounded truly worried. "Niles, are you asleep?"  
  
The crushing despondency in his soul made it impossible for him to answer.  
  
Grace reached out and stroked his hair tenderly. She leaned carefully over and kissed the top of his head.  
  
Niles felt so dejected that he couldn't move.  
  
"It's probably just a gesture of pure pity," he thought gloomily.  
  
As she got up to leave Niles opened his eyes again. He blinked back some tears and stared at her retreating form. He could see a fretful look on her face in the half-light of the room as she gathered her things to leave. The last two things he remembered clearly before drifting off, was seeing the silhouette of Grace in the muted hallway light and hearing a heavy sigh escape from her lips, as she closed the door. Then the darkness engulfed him.  
End of Part 4  
  
To be continued... 


	5. Chapter 5

Niles Takes a Trip .... and Then a Tumble  
  
Part 5 : Niles Gets an Answer  
  
Grace slipped the key into the lock and silently opened the door. With the  
drapes drawn tight, the darkness obscured most things in the room. She listened carefully in the doorway, until she could hear the reassuring, gentle "wheeze" of Niles' breath as he slept.  
  
She crept in cautiously, turned the table lamp on low and plopped down lightly in the chair opposite the couch.  
  
She had purposely not returned to the hotel room after the matinee performance, opting instead to go for a walk, so not to disturb his quietude. The pills she had given him would last about eight hours approximately. Since it was coming up to 8:00 p.m. now, he should be good for at least another two hours.  
  
Grace also needed that time to think about her emotions about Niles. There was something about him that drew her to him. Was it his awkward boyish charm, or the feeling that a passionate man was lurking underneath?  
  
"Get a grip on yourself, girl!" Grace lectured herself. "This guy has just been through a very traumatic experience. He got beaten within an inch of his life and you are fantasizing about him! He has to be in an extremely vulnerable state of mind. Don't put any extra pressure on him! Where is your sense of common decency!"  
  
She shook her head and gazed at his slender frame as it rose and fell with the rhythmic regularity of someone in a deep slumber.  
  
"I'm glad he is still snoozing. He needs to rest," she thought. "My God, he  
looks so peaceful, lying there scrunched up on that cramped sofa."  
  
Bathed in the golden glow of the dim lamplight, the scene before her took on the appearance of a Flemish masterpiece that Rembrandt himself would have been proud to capture. The faded blue blanket lay in folds around Niles' angular jaw. He was curled up in the "fetal position", but even still his toes protruded from the far edge of the cover. Off to his side, on the end table, lay the teacup and the bag of ice, which was now just a puddle of water wrapped in a familiar rough white towel with "Desert Inn" emblazoned  
on it.  
  
Despite the injuries to his face, he looked handsome in an unconventional sort of way. His delicate features were only slightly marred by the punishment that had been metered out to them the night before. Grace happily noted that the swelling had indeed started to retreat, just as she had suspected. His blond hair was matted a bit and definitely in need of a comb, but this only added to his rumpled, mussed up attractiveness.  
  
"Attractive... " Grace whispered to herself. "He certainly *is* attractive. He seems so naive and innocent, and yet he does exude a definite sexual appeal."  
  
Niles shifted slightly and groaned involuntarily as he moved.  
  
"He still must be in some pain," she contemplated. "I should really wake him up and get some aspirin into him. That would also help reduce the stiffness in his joints. Poor Niles!"  
  
She walked over to him and knelt beside the couch. Reaching out,  
she gently shook him on the shoulder.  
  
"Niles... Niles, wake up," she prodded. "You should get up for a spell."  
  
Niles groggily swatted away her hand, like a petulant child batting away  
a bothersome fly.  
  
"Nooo..." he muttered under his breath. "Go... away. Leave... leave  
me alone."  
  
Grace laughed at his antics.  
  
"All right. You sleep. I'll be back about 11:30 with something for you to eat. You should be famished by then."  
  
Then she bent low, and on pure impulse, kissed his cheek. Grace inhaled deeply as she brushed her lips against his cheek.  
  
"N... i... c... e," he said with subdued emotion. His eyes were still closed tight. A small smile brightened his features. "N... i... c... e... " he drifted off.  
  
She could smell the sweet, salty odour of his body. His face was damp with traces of perspiration and slightly rough from not being shaved. She outlined his swollen lip with her finger with deliberate tenderness.  
  
The overwhelming temptation was too much for Grace to resist. She tilted her head down slightly and pressed her lips to his.  
  
Niles stirred without waking and responded in kind, without a word. The  
moment seemed to last forever. His lips were moist and warm. When she broke from the kiss, she felt totally intoxicated by his very presence. Her mouth was burning and her heart was racing.  
  
"N... i... c... e... " Niles repeated sleepily and turned his head into the  
pillow.  
  
"I... I... have to go," she stammered. "I'll be back soon after the show."  
  
She knew he couldn't comprehend at the moment what she was saying, but she felt it was important that she still tell him.  
  
"Maybe he will have some conscious memory of what has happened," she  
reasoned. In the back of her mind she wanted him to remember it all.  
  
She slipped out of the room as quietly as she had come, and headed off to  
the last showing of Brisbane's animal act for the night.  
  
"My God!" she thought as she headed to work. "What was that all about? He's the one who was beaten up - why do I feel so fragile all of a sudden? Could it be those intense blue eyes of his... ?"  
  
"Niles, are you awake?" Grace called, as she unlatched the door and walked into her hotel room. She glanced at the empty couch. The blanket was folded neatly at one end of it. She slipped out of her trench coat and tossed it carelessly over the back of a chair.  
  
"I brought food... real food!" she proclaimed with a hint of enticement in  
her voice.  
  
The bathroom light was on and the door was open. Grace cautiously walked up to the doorway.  
  
"Niles? Is everything all right?" She peeked around the corner.  
  
He was standing in his wrinkled clothes, looking in the bathroom mirror.  
His hair was still messy and he looked slightly disoriented. His left hand steadied his body against the sink, while his right mapped the outlines of his damaged features. He seemed almost lost in a world of his own misery.  
  
"Niles, I brought some food," Grace tried to sound breezy, but her  
concern for him seeped through. "I've got to change out of this circus  
get up and you really should eat something... Niles?"  
  
He continued to stare at his pallid reflection without responding.  
  
Finally he turned his head towards her voice and said mournfully, "Well, it does look a bit better... doesn't it?"  
  
"Oh, Niles," said Grace. She dropped the takeout food to her side and  
entered the bathroom. "Of course it does." And with those words she  
circled her arms softly around him and started to cry.  
  
"You're lying aren't you?" Niles asked in a tremulous voice.  
  
"No." Grace said succinctly.  
  
He persisted. "Then why are you crying?".  
  
"I'm crying, silly," she said with fond exasperation. "I'm crying because I am so happy to see you up on your feet!!"  
  
She hugged him a bit closer, but not too tightly. She still wasn't too sure  
how tender his ribs were yet. The warmth of her embrace seemed to  
rejuvenate him. The prickly sequins on the arms of her costume dug into the back of his neck, as she tightened her grip to assure him of her sincerity. His cheek was in close contact with her own and she could feel the rise and fall of her breasts against his chest. She noticed that his eyes  
drifted downward towards her rounded cleavage that was partially  
exposed by the neckline of her stage clothes. Niles clung to her for a  
moment longer, like a man begging to be saved from drowning. She was suddenly aware of the evidence of his intense arousal by the stiffening in his loins, as his body pressed up against hers. Grace gasped in anticipation of their growing desire.  
  
With a spasmodic jump he backed up and looked at her with a hint of embarrassment.  
  
"Per... haps I should wash up before I eat?" he said sheepishly. "It... it  
has been a while since I had a b... b... ath."  
  
Grace swallowed hard to regain her composure.  
  
"That's a great idea," agreed Grace brightly trying to lessen his uneasiness. "I think it would refresh you and make you feel much better. I could press your clothes with my travel iron, if you like?"  
  
"I'll... I'll just g... get undressed and give you my clothes, then," he said with a catch in his throat, as he turned away from her to conceal his libidinous discomfort. He actually looked like he was about to faint for a brief moment.  
  
"Niles, you do feel up to doing this on your own, don't you? I could  
always assist you with a "sit up" bath. Remember I was trained in  
nursing," she contended. " I would be quite willing... "  
  
"NO!" he yelped, cutting her short, "No, no, that won't be  
necessary, thank you... thank you!"  
  
He seemed suddenly very sensitive about whole situation, so  
Grace just hastily retreated from the bathroom, saying  
that she would go warm up the iron, as she closed the  
door behind her.  
  
Niles gulped a mouthful of air and leaned against the tiled wall.  
He pressed the palms of his hands against his temples.  
  
"I can't go on like this!" he vexed, "Is this what love is like?  
I think I am going out of my mind!"  
  
His hands shook as he stripped quickly out of his clothes,  
wrapped a towel around himself and set his garments in a  
tidy pile outside the bathroom door. He could hear Grace  
humming in the bedroom.  
  
He climbed into the tub, pulled the meager curtain across and  
let the tepid water wash over his weary frame. The terrible  
beating he had endured, the appalling injuries that he had  
suffered, the lack of sustenance, the implacable urges he felt  
for Grace, all started to rattle around in his mind like a dizzy,  
out-of-control carousel. Niles stuck his arms out to steady  
himself against the drenched walls. A stifled cry escaped  
from his mouth.  
  
Grace knocked lightly on the bathroom door.  
  
"Niles, I brought you some shampoo."  
  
The sound of the shower obscured her voice.  
  
The door swung open. She could see his naked outline  
through the opaque shower curtain. She caught a glimpse  
of his visage, partially concealed by the slick plastic.  
  
His eyes were shut tight as if he were in pain. His head hung down slightly, as if burdened by some unseen weight.  
  
Grace wanted to go to him, right then and there, gather him in her arms and tenderly kiss away his demons. As she took a couple of steps forward, she could hear the low guttural sounds of sobbing. Feeling like an intruder, she quietly left the bottle on the counter near the edge of the tub and tiptoed out.  
  
"I'm ready," he called out from the bathroom doorway. "Grace?  
Grace, do you have my clothes?"  
  
"They're on the chair in the living room." she shouted from the kitchenette.  
  
Niles tucked a towel around his body and wandered into the other room.  
He pulled on his trousers and was fastening them as Grace rounded the  
corner with a platter of food.  
  
"Feeling better?" she questioned discreetly.  
  
"Yes, thanks." he replied self-consciously. His suspenders hung limply down on either side of his pants and his slim, but bruised torso revealed a fine mat of sandy chest hair as he turned to face her. His hair was still damp, the blond tendrils clinging to the skin on his neck and forehead. He reached for his shirt. Grace followed his movements with her eyes.  
  
"Let's eat at the table." she suggested.  
  
"All right," he responded with an eagerness that betrayed his hunger. "What do we have here?"  
  
"Well, I have some sandwiches, turkey and ham, and I have potato salad  
and some yogurt. Is strawberry all right?" she asked.  
  
Niles nodded yes. He was such a fussy eater normally, but these were  
extremely unusual circumstances. "Right now I would eat almost anything, but you did a fine job in selecting the food. Which sandwich do you want?"  
  
"I have already eaten," Grace explained. "You help yourself to it all."  
  
"I can't eat in front of someone with no food!" Niles exclaimed, "That  
wouldn't be polite!"  
  
"Niles, under the circumstances, I think you can be forgiven," she lectured.  
"You have had one small cup of soup in about twenty-four hours. I ate after  
the 6:00 p.m. show ended. You need all of this food and probably more."  
  
"No," he insisted. "I just wouldn't feel comfortable! At least nibble on  
half of this sandwich."  
  
He broke the ham sandwich in two and offered her a portion.  
  
"You are awful persistent and stubborn for an invalid," Grace laughed.  
"All right, you win, I'll take the sandwich, but you have to eat *all*  
the rest!! No excuses!!"  
  
Niles smiled triumphantly at his moral victory and took a bite of the  
turkey sandwich.  
  
During the meal they chatted about their ambitions and hopes. Niles told Grace about his plans for Yale and his desire to follow in his mother's footsteps and become a psychiatrist. He talked about how he was proud of both his parents. How they had supported him throughout his life, even when they couldn't always understand him.  
  
Grace told him about her mother and how hard it was on both of them after her father died of cancer when she was seven. Her mother had to take on two jobs just to make ends meet. Grace had learned to pitch in with part-time jobs to add to the family coffers. But she always felt blessed by a loving parent, who allowed her the freedom to be independent. She went on to regal him with stories of her different adventures with the Brisbane Show. His spirits seemed to brighten. In a while the food was completely gone. He wiped his sore lip cautiously with the paper napkin.  
  
"There, are you happy now?" he teased.  
  
"Yes, I am," Grace replied and then added, "It's good to see some life in  
your face."  
  
With the mention of the word "face" Niles looked crestfallen.  
  
Grace reached out and grasped his hand from across the table.  
  
"Niles, believe me when I say that I *can* see a big improvement and  
remember, I told you it will be even better by tomorrow!" she encouraged.  
  
"Yes, I'll be a regular "Prince Charming" in no time."  
  
The words tumbled out of him with a sarcastic tone. "The girls will be lining up for a date with me! It's the answer to all my dreams."  
  
"I would do it," Grace said shyly.  
  
"What .... did .... you say?" he haltingly ventured.  
  
"I said, I would go out with you," she added emphatically. "I think you are  
very handsome and a wonderful person."  
  
"You mean that?" he asked incredulously. "You aren't just saying that to  
make me feel better?"  
  
Grace answered his question by leaning forward and kissing him full on the  
lips.  
  
At first Niles was completely taken by surprise, but he didn't pull back.  
He leaned into the kiss willingly and drank in the pleasure of Grace's  
passion.  
  
When they broke apart to catch their breath, Niles finally opened his eyes  
and smiled. Grace cooed softly "Was that a definite enough answer for you?"  
  
"Yes," he said nervously. "Though I'd like to repeat the question, just to  
hear your answer again."  
  
"Gladly," she said with a smile growing across her face. "I've got a few  
in-depth questions that I'd like you to answer too."  
  
Niles straightened up and got a quizzical look on his face.  
  
"Oh," he paused. "What would you like to know?"  
  
Grace laughed and took his hand as she led him to the bedroom.  
  
"Well for one thing, why are you so irresistibly adorable?"  
  
And with that Niles realized that all his Vegas dreams were about to come  
true....  
  
End of Part 5.  
  
To be continued... 


	6. Chapter 6 (conclusion)

Niles Takes a Trip... and Then a Tumble  
  
Part 6 : An Epiphany for Niles  
  
The early afternoon sun etched its way through the slits in the blinds.  
  
Niles felt complete contentment for the first time in his entire life. He finally felt like a man, not a bumbling boy, full of frustrated passion and awkward gestures. A man - someone who was desired and fulfilled another's desires. He turned and glanced over at Grace, who lay beside him, hidden by the blanket, except for her face.  
  
She looked like a vision to him. He reached out and touched her hair, just  
to reassure himself that she wasn't an apparition. Her dark reddish brown strands felt like silk as they slipped between his fingers. She stirred and opened her hazel eyes.  
  
"Good afternoon," he said quietly.  
  
Grace smiled back at him.  
  
"Mmmm....It certainly is," she lazily intoned.  
  
Her hands extended out to hold his face. She rolled gently forward until  
their bodies softly collided, wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed both his cheeks.  
  
"You are the most wonderful, sweet lover I have ever had," she murmured.  
She hooked her smooth leg over his thigh and drew him up close. Niles' lips parted slightly in anticipation and surprise. She traced his lips with her tongue and kissed him deeply. When their mouths parted, he leaned back and looked into her eyes.  
  
"You... are my first, " he confessed in a breathless, husky sounding voice.  
  
Grace's lambent eyes sparkled.  
  
"I never would have known," she said simply and kissed him again.  
  
Niles felt like he was tumbling towards ecstasy. He sensed a rapture invade his whole body and take over his very soul. He had a sensation of feeling confident and humble at the same time. He rolled lightly on top of her.  
Their nude bodies began to move with a gentle yet persistent rhythm. With each stroke he perceived a mounting tidal wave of emotion that threatened to overtake them.  
  
Grace arched her back and gripped his arms. Her mouth opened with a gasp of delight. There was a lacing of limbs and flesh and yearning and joy. Niles shuddered a release and fell towards the oblivion of her lips. Nothing else mattered for the moment. Not Vegas, not Seattle, not school, not even his own insecurities or fears. Nothing mattered to him, except Grace. That was everything he needed for right now. Grace... amazing Grace was his salvation. Niles cradled her softly, their spent bodies lying in tandem. She petted the hair on his sinewy arms.  
  
"I take it you are fully recovered," she teased.  
  
"Yes, thanks to you," he replied, kissing the back of her head. "I could  
stay this way for ever."  
  
"But you know we can't," Grace's said with a touch of regret.  
  
Niles suddenly felt his heart begin to thump wildly. His breathing became more quickly paced.  
  
"I know, I know," he said in a rush, trying desperately to suppress his  
rising panic. " You have to get washed and dressed in your costume to get yourself ready for Brisbane's afternoon show. It will be a couple of hours and then you might be hungry. I... I could make you something, something to eat. I'm really quite good at cooking, even out of the simplest ingredients. I won a ribbon for it in high school one time, you know -"  
  
"Niles," she said compassionately. "Niles, stop."  
  
"No!" he sobbed. "No, Grace! I can't let you go! Say I can stay with you!  
P...p...please!"  
  
He sat up and folded his legs up to meet his chest. His head sagged into  
his arms as he hid his face from her. Grace sat up beside him and put her arm across his back and rubbed it soothingly.  
  
"Niles, there are no performances this afternoon. Today the show moves on to Los Angeles. I'm going with it. You - you are going back to Seattle to school."  
  
Her calm, rational manner sliced through him like a surgeon's scalpel.  
  
"That's it then," Niles said bitterly. "So cut and dried for you. Was it  
fun having a "virgin" like me for your amusement? You never really felt anything for me, then? I was just a couple of day entertainment while you stopped over in Vegas. You just used me, didn't you?"  
  
He despised himself for sounding so cruel, but his pain was driving him  
blindly forward to the brink. If they argued and he left, he could always tell himself later it was for the best, that way.  
  
Grace shook her head.  
  
"You don't mean that. I know you don't. Please  
don't make this any harder than it is... on both of us."  
  
Tears welled up in her eyes. Niles hated the fact that his words had made her cry.  
  
"I love you Grace!" he blurted out. "I need you!"  
  
"Oh Niles, I love you too," she cried. "But we both know that this is  
something for the now, not for the forever. When I first found you lying on that cold, hard ground, I just intuitively sensed that there was a connection between us. That's why I brought you back here and not to a hospital. I had to get to know you better. It was like an unstoppable force."  
  
Niles looked up; his tear-stained face turned in her direction.  
  
"I made you feel that way? Really? Me?" he asked incredulously.  
  
"Yes, *you*!" said Grace. "You with your sensitive, kind manner and gentle  
nature. You with your raw feelings and needs. You, with your ardent  
affections. You made me feel so helpless in the face of all that!"  
  
"Grace, I never imagined that I could do that to anyone."  
  
"You don't know the power of your own passions, my darling Niles. I'm just  
glad I could help you unlock them. Just remember to use that potent force in you for good," she jested. "And not evil!! You could break a lot of hearts  
if you don't mind yourself!"  
  
"Oh, yes," Niles giggled nervously. "That's me, `Don Juan Crane'!"  
  
"Well, it is the quiet ones that our mothers always warned us about!" she  
chided. "Niles, let's go for a walk and get something to eat, if you are  
feeling up to it. The fresh air will do you some good and we have at least four hours before I have to pack to leave, so there's plenty of time really."  
  
"All right, Grace!" he said bravely, finally realizing that to dwell on the sad aspect of their situation would only spoil the time they had left. "Do you think I should take a chance and shave this craggy countenance?"  
  
"I tell you what," challenged Grace. "If you let me, I'll shave your  
whiskers for you! My treat!"  
  
"You've done this before?" he asked with a little less bravado.  
  
"No, but you will just have to trust me," she answered, as she brazenly  
climbed out of the bed and donned her robe. "I'll be careful."  
  
Niles felt the image of her voluptuous body burn in his mind. He wanted  
everything to be just as clear when he thought back to this moment in the  
future.  
  
He watched as Grace trotted down the hallway to get a glass of water from the kitchen.  
  
Niles dressed in his trousers and went to the bathroom and lathered up.  
Grace appeared behind him, like a specter reflected in the bathroom mirror.  
  
"Are you ready? Sit here on the edge of the tub."  
  
She gently directed him down.  
  
She carefully scraped the razor over his tender areas. The bruises were now more of a yellow-green pallor. Niles closed his eyes, soaking in the luxuriant attention that she lavished on him. Her cheerful conversation combined with her sensual touch made him forget that their time together was ticking away. Grace finally wiped his face with a rough towel and kissed him on the tip of his nose.  
  
"You're all done!" she said proudly. "How does that feel?"  
  
"Like I died and went to a barber shop in heaven."  
  
Niles stood up and viewed himself in the mirror. The discoloration around  
his eye was still highly visible. The rest of his wounds had healed remarkably well and were not really that noticeable. Grace quickly surmised the problem.  
  
"You know, Niles, I could just put a little something on that and it  
wouldn't show at all," she offered.  
  
"Really? You mean something like... makeup?" he said with doubtful  
disdain.  
  
"Yeah, let me show you."  
  
She skillfully applied a dab on her finger and covered the offending bruises.  
  
"There, is that better?"  
  
"Yes, yes I suppose it is," he said with surprise. "Thank you Grace."  
  
"Come on, let's go out and get something to eat."  
  
With that she skipped to the bedroom and quickly pulled on a pair of faded jeans and a tee shirt. A feeling washed over Niles as he surveyed her from the hallway. It was almost surreal how her actions were both cheeky  
and naive at the same time.  
  
"Who could have known that when I started out on my journey to  
Las Vegas I would have ended up here, doing what I am at this moment," he thought.  
  
He shook his head in wonderment and buttoned his shirt.  
  
"Frasier will never believe this. What am I talking about... no one  
will ever believe it! I don't even believe it!"  
  
"Ready to go?" Grace inquired.  
  
"Yes, all ready," he said as he grabbed his suit coat jacket and snapped his  
suspenders onto his shoulders.  
******************************************************************  
They walked to a nearby restaurant. Niles had an eerie feeling that it was  
the one he had been heading to the night of the attack, but both he and Grace avoided talking about that.  
  
Niles insisted that they would visit his hotel room after they were done, so he could repay Grace for the cost of the meal. He pleaded, "I have money, you know. You shouldn't always be the one to pay. Let me treat you for once!"  
  
And he did.  
  
It wasn't far to his hotel. He knew Grace was faintly curious as to what it would look like. His place was much smaller than hers was but it was easy to see the imprint of his neat organization in the room, even though he hadn't been there all that long.  
  
Niles flitted about her like a bird on a feeder. He fussed about where  
she would sit. He dusted off the chair carefully before he finally allowed  
her to perch on it. He disappeared into the bathroom to tidy up, coming  
back a few minutes later muttering something about how "if he had had more time it would have been more presentable."  
  
Grace laughed gently and just pulled him down on the bed.  
  
They made love one more time that afternoon. There was a certain urgent  
desperation that accompanied it. As if they were all too well aware of the countdown to their impending departure.  
  
The late afternoon sun streamed through the crack in the drapes  
and cut across their languid forms, after they lay exhausted under the pale,  
stiff sheets. As Grace snuggled in the curve of his arm, her eyes closed, a  
smile turned the corners of her mouth up slightly. Niles looked up at the  
stained ceiling tiles and sighed. The reality of their destiny hit him like  
an electric shock. His body convulsed for a brief second and a tear rolled  
down his cheek. Grace tilted her head up, kissed it away and hugged him.  
  
"Just remember me like this," she simply said.  
  
He decided then and there to keep this just to himself. It was perfect the  
way it was. He didn't have to hold it up to the scrutiny of others. It would somehow sully it if the judgmental opinions of his classmates intruded into the memory of Grace and what the two of them had experienced over the past few days. It was too precious to him. It was good enough that he knew.  
  
Niles suddenly felt very grown up.  
  
Grace was adamant that he not accompany her back to the Desert Inn.  
  
She said that she wanted to remember him the way he was at this very moment - so handsome and masculine, yet also so delicate and fragile. His lean, bare chest was slightly damp with a glistening of sweat. His sandy blond hair was still a bit tousled from their earlier activities. As he sat upright in his trousers, his legs dangled almost casually over the side of the bed. His cheeks had taken on a ruddy complexion, while his large, dark blue eyes telegraphed his affections directly to her heart.  
  
"Perfect," she whispered. "Don't move."  
  
She kissed him one last time, pressed her cheek against his and left.  
  
Niles disobediently ran to the window and watched her walk down the street. When he couldn't see her any further, he dashed outside to the balcony and strained desperately until she was a smudge in the distance.  
  
He wanted to run after her, but he knew he couldn't. This was the way it was supposed to be. He didn't even realize he was crying until a passerby looked up in disgust and made some comment about too many bad drugs floating around Vegas nowadays.  
  
It was Thursday. This was supposed to be his last full day in Vegas. In  
his neatly organized diary he was scheduled to leave tomorrow morning.  
  
But Niles knew he couldn't stay another minute. He threw on a shirt, paid his bill and tossed his luggage in the trunk of the Chevy. He knew it would be early Friday morning when he got into Salt Lake City but none of that mattered. To stay one more moment in Vegas would crush his spirit  
completely.  
  
He drove with a decided determination on the return trip. If he couldn't have Grace, he needed the familiar surroundings of Seattle to ground him. He didn't even stop overnight in Boise. It was after midnight Saturday when he finally got home to Seattle.  
  
He had covered the three-day journey in about two. Exhausted but relieved, he opened the front door of his parent's house. It was completely still.  
  
He knew their habits. They would have gone to bed after the 10 o'clock news, even on a Saturday night.  
  
He crept silently up the stairs and lay down on his bed.  
  
He stayed there for what seemed like forever, motionless in his darkened bedroom, thinking about all that had happened to him over the past week.  
  
"Niles?"  
  
A familiar voice broke through the inky void.  
  
"How did everything go?"  
  
"Fine, mom."  
  
"You sound stressed son. Are you all right?"  
  
"Mom...." his voice had a slight quiver to it. "Mom, I ... I met a girl."  
  
His mother entered the shadowy room and sat on the edge of his bed.  
  
"Do you want to talk about it?"  
  
"Mom, I ... we .... I love her, mom."  
  
"I see... are you going to see her again?"  
  
"No, no I am never going to see her again, mom," his voice cracked in the  
gloom. "...Mom, it hurts so m...m...much!!"  
  
His mother reached out and patted his hand.  
  
"That is what life is about Niles. Sometimes to recognize the utter joy of love, you have to feel the pain of it too."  
  
Her words slowly seeped into his aching heart.  
  
"Some other things happened too. I'll talk to you about it  
tomorrow...all right?"  
  
"Of course son."  
  
His mother rose off the bed and headed towards the door.  
  
As Hester opened the door she turned slowly to see the outline of her youngest child on his narrow bed. She could barely make out Niles' arm straddled across his forehead. His eyes were shut tightly. His mouth was drawn taut while his teeth bit deeply into his lower lip. His body shook in little fits and starts.  
  
When he was ready he would share with her what he could. Or not. It didn't really matter.  
  
"Niles, we love you very much, dear. See you in the morning."  
  
"Thanks mom," was all he said.  
  
That was enough.  
  
The End. 


End file.
